Mechanical Failure
06-21-2007, 01:30 PM
#21
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Chatham, Ohio
Posts: 8,834
RE: Mechanical Failure
I have a good reason. My cousin was hunting last year (I was there at his house) and a doe walked out at 30 yards. He was using a PSE and was shooting mechanical broadheads (ill have to check which kind), when he shot, the blades opened up in mid flight and the arrow started swirving around and it fell to the ground. This is a good enough reason for me not to use them.
06-21-2007, 01:49 PM
#22
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Elkville, IL
Posts: 1,180
RE: Mechanical Failure
ORIGINAL: buttonbuckmaster
Ba-wa-na-jim
/ˈnɪmrɒd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[buh-wah-na-jim] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1.
user of huntingnet: noted as a huge complainer. Known worldwideto complain about anything. Hates life itself. Hates his own mother. Gen. 10:8–10.
2.
(sometimes lowercase) a self-proclaimed expert in or devoted to hunting. Others beg to differ.
Just in case you didn't know.....[&:]
Ba-wa-na-jim
/ˈnɪmrɒd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[buh-wah-na-jim] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun
1.
user of huntingnet: noted as a huge complainer. Known worldwideto complain about anything. Hates life itself. Hates his own mother. Gen. 10:8–10.
2.
(sometimes lowercase
) a self-proclaimed expert in or devoted to hunting. Others beg to differ. Just in case you didn't know.....[&:]
Back on topic, I had a very early Rocket head literally fall apart as I pulled it out of my quiver. The only thing I could figure was that the small allen head screws holding in the blades had backed out. It kind of weakened my faith in them, but I did kill three deer with them that season, and those three performed flawlessly.
06-21-2007, 01:55 PM
#23
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Posts: 5,541
RE: Mechanical Failure
ORIGINAL: Cay4redneck
I have a good reason. My cousin was hunting last year (I was there at his house) and a doe walked out at 30 yards. He was using a PSE and was shooting mechanical broadheads (ill have to check which kind), when he shot, the blades opened up in mid flight and the arrow started swirving around and it fell to the ground. This is a good enough reason for me not to use them.
I have a good reason. My cousin was hunting last year (I was there at his house) and a doe walked out at 30 yards. He was using a PSE and was shooting mechanical broadheads (ill have to check which kind), when he shot, the blades opened up in mid flight and the arrow started swirving around and it fell to the ground. This is a good enough reason for me not to use them.
1) How can you know that the blades opened in mid-flight? This is an impossibility to say this without a high-speed camera watching the arrow in flight.
2) Even if the blades did open in flight there is not enough wind resistance to knock an arrow to the ground. It's a broadead not a parachute.
3) You didn't see it. Just because you were at his house doesn't mean you were in the tree with him to witness the shot. If you were, I apologize.
My bet is that your cousin hit a branch that may have opened the blades, would most certainly cause erratic flight, and could slow an arrow down enough for it to die in mid-flight.
06-21-2007, 02:23 PM
#24
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Where the ducks don't come no more
Posts: 4,420
RE: Mechanical Failure
ORIGINAL: HuntingBry
Just to play devil's advocate here:
1) How can you know that the blades opened in mid-flight? This is an impossibility to say this without a high-speed camera watching the arrow in flight.
2) Even if the blades did open in flight there is not enough wind resistance to knock an arrow to the ground. It's a broadead not a parachute.
3) You didn't see it. Just because you were at his house doesn't mean you were in the tree with him to witness the shot. If you were, I apologize.
My bet is that your cousin hit a branch that may have opened the blades, would most certainly cause erratic flight, and could slow an arrow down enough for it to die in mid-flight.
Just to play devil's advocate here:
1) How can you know that the blades opened in mid-flight? This is an impossibility to say this without a high-speed camera watching the arrow in flight.
2) Even if the blades did open in flight there is not enough wind resistance to knock an arrow to the ground. It's a broadead not a parachute.
3) You didn't see it. Just because you were at his house doesn't mean you were in the tree with him to witness the shot. If you were, I apologize.
My bet is that your cousin hit a branch that may have opened the blades, would most certainly cause erratic flight, and could slow an arrow down enough for it to die in mid-flight.
06-21-2007, 03:44 PM
#25
Fork Horn
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location:
Posts: 304
RE: Mechanical Failure
I started using Rocket mini - Blasters when they first came out.
The failures were the occational blade breaking off or not opening.
At first we KNEW it was the broad head and then we found out it was the shooter.
WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep shooter error - mainly for being cheap !!!!!!!!!
Some guys practiced with their blasters then rebuilt them and went hunting.
Some guys unscrewed their field points, screwed in the Blasters and went hunting.
The guys who rebuilt them would booger up screw heads. not tighten them enough, fail to clean the blade chanel enough, bend those little skinny blades trying to sharpen them. And in general reverse engineer them to the point they were a complete cluster. These are the fellows who had failures.
We found out pretty early that to check that type of broad head was pretty darn simple.
First spin the arrow and make sure nothing was bent (done with rubber band ON the broad head)
Next take the rubber band off and with the arrow level with the ground slowly rotate the arrow, the blades should flop open and close on their own. If the blades flop on their own - put the rubberband back on and put the arrow in your quiver ready to go.
The secret was the universal truth for all things large and small:
"If it ain't broke don't fix it"
The Rockets worked well on Florida deer and pigs, TN ridgerunners no problem, OH does never knew what hit 'em.
Now them rut crazed OH and IA 250 lb nut cases they put everything to a test.
Poor mini-blaster would sometimes (30%) come out pretty knarly lookin, blades wrapped around the shaft, blades wrapped arround each other, sometimes 1 or 2 broke off inside.
It was amazing we would look at those beat up little broad heads and wonder how they KILLED those big rascals, and kill them they did.
I can't remember ever having one get away that I stuck with the Mini.
But for you alls big bruisers the mini was a bit undergunned as compared to say a 125 gr Thunderhead.
I can rember a doe that I took Quartering away (Most over rated bow shot there is) the arrow went in right at the last rib - moving foward it cut 5 ribs completly in half. There was a hole in that deer you could put a beer can in.
The Mech heads are fine, use the ones that have been around for a while, don't try and tweek them,make them better, faster, straiter use a couple for Tuning and such and throw them away. Use brand new ones for the hunt, inspect them - don't tweek them - and then go kill something.
From most things I have noticed, when a product fails most of the time operator error is the root cause.
It is really kind of simple
A. = Aim
B.= Squeeze
C. = Eat
D. = Be Happy
God Bless to all
Leo
The failures were the occational blade breaking off or not opening.
At first we KNEW it was the broad head and then we found out it was the shooter.
WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yep shooter error - mainly for being cheap !!!!!!!!!
Some guys practiced with their blasters then rebuilt them and went hunting.
Some guys unscrewed their field points, screwed in the Blasters and went hunting.
The guys who rebuilt them would booger up screw heads. not tighten them enough, fail to clean the blade chanel enough, bend those little skinny blades trying to sharpen them. And in general reverse engineer them to the point they were a complete cluster. These are the fellows who had failures.
We found out pretty early that to check that type of broad head was pretty darn simple.
First spin the arrow and make sure nothing was bent (done with rubber band ON the broad head)
Next take the rubber band off and with the arrow level with the ground slowly rotate the arrow, the blades should flop open and close on their own. If the blades flop on their own - put the rubberband back on and put the arrow in your quiver ready to go.
The secret was the universal truth for all things large and small:
"If it ain't broke don't fix it"
The Rockets worked well on Florida deer and pigs, TN ridgerunners no problem, OH does never knew what hit 'em.
Now them rut crazed OH and IA 250 lb nut cases they put everything to a test.
Poor mini-blaster would sometimes (30%) come out pretty knarly lookin, blades wrapped around the shaft, blades wrapped arround each other, sometimes 1 or 2 broke off inside.
It was amazing we would look at those beat up little broad heads and wonder how they KILLED those big rascals, and kill them they did.
I can't remember ever having one get away that I stuck with the Mini.
But for you alls big bruisers the mini was a bit undergunned as compared to say a 125 gr Thunderhead.
I can rember a doe that I took Quartering away (Most over rated bow shot there is) the arrow went in right at the last rib - moving foward it cut 5 ribs completly in half. There was a hole in that deer you could put a beer can in.
The Mech heads are fine, use the ones that have been around for a while, don't try and tweek them,make them better, faster, straiter use a couple for Tuning and such and throw them away. Use brand new ones for the hunt, inspect them - don't tweek them - and then go kill something.
From most things I have noticed, when a product fails most of the time operator error is the root cause.
It is really kind of simple
A. = Aim
B.= Squeeze
C. = Eat
D. = Be Happy
God Bless to all
Leo
06-21-2007, 04:08 PM
#26
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location:
Posts: 2,621
RE: Mechanical Failure
I've useda fewmechanical heads over the years
Rockets
Punchcutters
Wasp Jak-Hammers
I have also used several fixed blade too.
Thundrheads
Muzzy
Wasp
Satelites
I have taken at least 30 deer with just the mechanicals.
I have never had a failure. I did have many broken or bent blades on those Rockets but still killed the deer. To me, if I killed the deer, the head did its job.
There was one Mechanical head that I saw that I would not use because I saw it fail to open while target shooting.
It was one of the first mechanicals, Puckett's Blood Trailer. Total junk. It required way too much pressure to get the blades to "cut" through their retaining band.
Rockets
Punchcutters
Wasp Jak-Hammers
I have also used several fixed blade too.
Thundrheads
Muzzy
Wasp
Satelites
I have taken at least 30 deer with just the mechanicals.
I have never had a failure. I did have many broken or bent blades on those Rockets but still killed the deer. To me, if I killed the deer, the head did its job.
There was one Mechanical head that I saw that I would not use because I saw it fail to open while target shooting.
It was one of the first mechanicals, Puckett's Blood Trailer. Total junk. It required way too much pressure to get the blades to "cut" through their retaining band.
06-21-2007, 04:10 PM
#27
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Chatham, Ohio
Posts: 8,834
RE: Mechanical Failure
I was there with him, it wasnt in a tree, we were in a large field of mowed hay. He was shooting at a broadside doe 30 yards away, if your standing next to a guy who isnt shooting a crazy fast bow you can see the arrows path no problem. The mechanical opened after about 10-15 yards. It didnt go straight to the ground it just started going in big circles and ran outta steam and then hit the ground. The deer were long gone. I know what i saw.....expandagays is what there called around my parts now!
06-21-2007, 04:17 PM
#28
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location:
Posts: 2,621
RE: Mechanical Failure
I just read the post above mine.
I really liked those Rockets.
Yeah, they were usually only good for one shot but they did kill deer.
I read somewhere that they were designed to bend or break blades as not to impede penetration. That way if a blade hit bone, it would just shear the blade and keep on penetrating.
I've even shot through a few shoulder blades with them on really close quartering toward angles.
Check out this entrance wound with Rocket that was taken at a sharp angle
I really liked those Rockets.
Yeah, they were usually only good for one shot but they did kill deer.
I read somewhere that they were designed to bend or break blades as not to impede penetration. That way if a blade hit bone, it would just shear the blade and keep on penetrating.
I've even shot through a few shoulder blades with them on really close quartering toward angles.
Check out this entrance wound with Rocket that was taken at a sharp angle
06-21-2007, 04:50 PM
#30
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: St. Louis, MO
Posts: 4,487
RE: Mechanical Failure
ORIGINAL: Windwalker7
Check out this entrance wound with Rocket that was taken at a sharp angle
Check out this entrance wound with Rocket that was taken at a sharp angle
I thought they were supposed to kick out when shot at an angle.
Just Kidding. I have never had one kick out on an angled shot either. When they are going that fast, how can they?